Natural disasters can cause a catastrophic impact on people and the places they love. A 2021 volcanic eruption and tsunami caused large-scale devastation affecting coastal communities including the Ohonua community in Eua, Tonga. Eua’s foreshore became a no-build zone, and a place of trauma. The disaster not only eroded the community’s sense of place, but also their social frameworks. This chapter presents an auto-ethnographic reflection of the potential role of nature in placemaking for healing. Through a Placemaking Sandbox travelling studio, twelve master-level students from an Australian university supported by four local students worked collectively with the Ohonua community to reimagine a happier and healthier way of living that can drive and support resilience and ecologies in Eua, while reducing community vulnerability, enhancing place attachment and belonging, and increasing disaster resilience to future shocks. In navigating the complex cultural settings of the Ohonua community, the students and community members co-designed nature-based opportunities and implemented four tactical placemaking initiatives that demonstrated biophilic, nature-based, and participatory design approaches to shape nature-centred public spaces, revealing important insights on the potential role of nature-driven placemaking in building back better. Moreover, it highlights how community groups can heal and thrive while increasing awareness of the economic, social, and cultural benefits of nature.